Friendly Neighborhood Babysitter
by Pikapegasus
Summary: "A solo mission?" Peter echoes, hardly containing his excitement. "Where am I going? Who am I stopping?" "Uh, it's domestic," Tony says, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "Very domestic. No suit required." (Pepperony Week 2017, Day 3: Family/kids)


**A/N:** hhehhefsuuuuuuhhhh here i am posting in the middle of the night, past midnight of the actual day it's _supposed_ to be posted, bc i'm a disaster and honestly lowkey about to keel over from exhaustion lmao

anyway pepperony def treats peter parker as their own kid and even if there were other kids in the picture peter just gets to be the adoptive big bro

* * *

Pepperony Week 2017, Day 3: Family

* * *

"Mr. Stark, I'm ready for the mission!"

Peter stands before Tony, suited up and beaming. He holds his mask in his hands, placed proudly on his hips. The sound of a quinjet taking off outside the facility fills the brief silence between them, which Tony breaks with a laugh.

"Oh, right, _mission_ ," he says, snapping his fingers. "Your solo mission."

"A _solo_ mission?" Peter echoes, hardly containing his excitement. "Where am I going? Who am I stopping?"

"Uh, it's domestic," Tony says, clapping a hand on his shoulder. " _Very_ domestic. No suit required."

"No suit?" Peter raises an eyebrow. "What kind of mission—"

"Oh, Peter's here!"

He's cut off by Pepper Potts, who enters the conference room with her purse in one hand and the young Mari Stark in the other, who waves excitedly at Peter upon seeing him. Pepper sets her down on the ground, allowing her to run up to him.

"Spidey!" she squeals, hugging his legs.

"Hey, Mari." He crouches down to properly embrace her. "How's my number one fan doing?"

"First of all, she's _my_ number one fan," Tony interjects with a small huff. "Second of all, this is your mission."

Peter stands up then, holding Mari at his hip. "Huh?"

"Tony and I are going out," Pepper explains, coming to stand beside Tony. "Just a dinner date, nothing special. I thought he told you?"

At her pointed look, Tony dismisses the issue with a vague gesture. "We didn't really discuss the semantics. I'd argue babysitting is just as hard as any other Avengers mission."

Peter glances down at Mari, only to find her focused on one of her braids. She passes it through her fingers curiously. He looks back up at Tony. "I'd say Mari's pretty well-behaved."

(From what he's seen, at least. She likes him enough to listen to him. Not everyone is as lucky as he is, though, from the stories he's heard of the other Avengers attempting to babysit.)

"There are good days and bad days," Tony says, placating. "Anyway. Tonight, you're a friendly neighborhood babysitter. More fitting job for your age group, don't you think?"

"Thank you, Peter," Pepper says, offering him a warm smile. "Mari's been asking for you lately."

"Aww, I'd come up to visit her anytime," Peter says, bouncing Mari a bit. She clings more tightly to him, giggling.

After Tony had become something of a father for him in the time following the Avengers' big fight and, years later, Mari had been born, Peter felt a familial connection to her, sibling-like in a way. Sure, there's a big age difference, but he prides himself on the fact that he's one of her (if not her number _one_ ) favorite Avengers.

"Well, we're gonna go," Tony says, pressing a quick kiss to Mari's head. "See you later, kiddo. Be good for Spidey."

"Bye-bye, Daddy," Mari says. Pepper kisses her as well. "Bye-bye, Mommy."

"So, you have our numbers, tell FRIDAY if you need anything," Tony rambles, gesturing this way and that with his hands. "Emergency numbers are on the fridge, just for fun, in case the entire digital world goes down while we're out. There's pizza in the fridge, the boss here likes cheese—"

"I think he gets the idea, Tony," Pepper cuts him off, hiding a laugh behind her hand. "They'll be fine. Let's go."

"If you break my kid, you're off the team," Tony adds in for good measure as Pepper guides him out the door. Mari waves after them.

"Alright, kiddo," Peter says, turning his eyes to Mari. "Let's get the pizza going, and then we can watch a movie after dinner. How does that sound?"

"Can we watch _Big Hero 6_?" she asks.

"Wha? How'd you know that was my favorite movie?" he says, carrying her to the kitchen. "Did your dad tell you that? Huh?"

As he tickles her side lightly, she curls into him with a laugh. "No! It's _my_ favorite!"

"You have good taste in movies."

He sets her down on the counter as he opens the fridge.

"Can we play Legos, too?" she asks, tilting her head.

"I was hoping you'd ask," he says, shooting her a grin as he removes the pizza from the tin foil. "Y'see, I have this Death Star that needs to be built, and it has _three thousand_ pieces…"

"That's a lot!" she says excitedly, clapping her hands together. "Can we do that one?"

"After dinner, while we watch _Big Hero 6_." He holds up his fist for a fist-bump. "Deal?"

She pushes her fist to his, her expression _very_ serious for a three-year-old. "Deal."

* * *

"Okay, honey, I love you," Tony says as Happy drives them into the Avengers' Facility two hours later, "but I'm not sure how much longer I could have taken being away from the munchkin. Is this healthy? I don't think this is healthy."

"It may not be healthy, but I think it's normal for parents," Pepper says from her seat beside him. "Plus, Mari's great company."

"Do you think she broke the kid yet?" Happy asks dryly, pulling to the side of the road and putting the car in park. Even though Peter's grown up and no longer "the kid" at the base (now that there's an _actual_ child running around), he'll always be _the_ kid to Tony and Happy.

"She likes him," Pepper says. "She'd actually want to be good for him."

"There were no distress calls while we were out," Tony adds as Happy exits the car and opens the door for him. "Neither from the kid _nor_ FRIDAY."

"I knew they'd be fine," Pepper says proudly, taking Tony's hand as she slides out of the car after him.

They split up from Happy upon entering the facility, Tony and Pepper heading straight for the communal area where they'd left Peter and Mari hours ago.

"I still can't believe you told Peter this was a _mission_ ," Pepper says, shaking her head. "It's just _babysitting_."

"She's our kid," Tony says with a shrug. "Our little princess. Probably going to rule the world one day, you know, with that little attitude she got from you—"

"You mean from _you_ —"

"Debatable. But she's an important kid."

Once they enter the room, the end of _Big Hero 6_ is running on the TV screen (muted). There's a completed Lego Death Star sitting on the coffee table in front of the couch—Peter had mentioned something about building one of those with a friend back in high school, right?—and, of course, there are the two kids in question cuddled up on the couch under a blanket, both asleep.

"Once again," Pepper whispers proudly, glancing between the two and Tony, "I was right."

"FRIDAY, take a picture of this and archive it," is all Tony responds with, feeling strangely overwhelmed by the sight. It's not jealousy (as much as he loves to tease Peter over which Avenger, between the two of them, Mari loves more), but something else, something warmer, deeper.

"Our two kids," Pepper says, almost longingly, with a small sigh. She presses herself into Tony's side.

Apparently, just _looking_ at Peter gets his super spider senses going, because he stirs then, sleepily blinking up at them. He raises his hand from the blanket in a quick wave—judging by his sleeve, he'd apparently changed out of suit at one point, back into normal clothes—and smiles tiredly.

"I definitely wasn't sleeping," he says, hiding a yawn behind his hand. "That would be irresponsible for an expert babysitter. I'm awake."

"Well, young man, I have to say," Tony says, stuffing his hands in his pockets, "it appears you did an excellent job. Kept her entertained _and_ got her down for the night. Very good, Spiderling."

"I'm a professional, like I said."

Cue another yawn. Tony exchanges a quick glance with Pepper, who's all but _dying_ at the scene unfolding before them. Mari even snuggles closer into Peter's chest as he talks, remaining blissfully asleep.

"Anyway, sorry I, uh, didn't put her to bed yet," Peter says, making a move to stand up. "I can take her now—"

"Please sit," Pepper says, holding her hand out to stop him. "It's fine, Peter. We'll handle her."

"Oh. Well, if you say so…" Peter trails off with _another_ yawn, stretching his arm out a bit before relaxing against the couch again. Mari remains attached to him as his eyes slip closed.

"Must have had a busy day today before coming up," Tony comments, turning to Pepper. "So, they didn't need us here at all. Bed?"

"Bed," she agrees. She leans down quickly to press a kiss not only to Mari's head, but to Peter's as well. Tony ruffles the hair on both of their heads gently, so not to disturb them.

"And date night continues in the comfort of our own home," he narrates quietly, looping his arm through Pepper's and gesturing to the hallway leading to the bedrooms with a small smirk. "Shall we, Mrs. Stark?"

"We shall, Mr. Stark," she says.

With that, they leave the room, FRIDAY dimming the lights for Peter and Mari, who are sprawled out completely on the large couch, snoring softly.


End file.
